Questions, Marks and Duration

The table describes the 2026 examination, the latest confirmed format available for planning the next attempt.

All questions have four response options and one best or most appropriate answer. English is the examination language. The 720-mark maximum follows from 180 questions multiplied by four; it is not an 800-mark paper with optional questions.

How the Five Timed Groups Work

You cannot move into the next group before the current group's allotted time ends. When the time expires, the next group starts automatically, and the previous group is no longer available for answer changes or review.

Within a group, use the review facility before its timer ends. Saving a difficult question for the end of the entire 210-minute paper will not work if that question belongs to an earlier group. The bulletin also reserves operational flexibility in the actual number of time-restricted sections; five groups of 36 is the specified 2026 structure.

Marking Scheme and Score Example

Raw score = 4 x correct answers - incorrect answers. Unanswered questions contribute zero. One wrong answer does not cancel a whole correct answer; four wrong answers cancel its four marks.

A question marked for review is evaluated under the same marking scheme. Marking it for review is not a separate bonus or penalty. If an answer is selected, its correctness determines the score; a blank response receives zero.

The example yields 440 marks and a marks percentage of about 61.11%. It does not yield a 61.11 percentile or a fixed rank. The result rules explain how rank and ties are handled.

Subjects and Clinical Questions

Groups A-E are timed divisions, not Anatomy, Physiology or other named subject sections. NBEMS bases the syllabus on the MBBS curriculum and does not assign a published chapter percentage to each group.

In a clinical vignette, the last line may ask for the diagnosis, mechanism, investigation or management principle. The same case can support different questions depending on that task. Match the answer to the task rather than selecting a familiar statement about the disease. The syllabus guide maps the study topics in more detail.

Answer Keys and Question Order

For 2026, NBEMS made the candidate-specific response-and-key record available from 1 October. It contains question IDs, the correct key ID, the marked response and the score awarded.

Questions were shuffled within sections, and option order was also shuffled. An option labelled 2 in one candidate's record can correspond to a different option number for another candidate. Compare the question and the actual option text in the personal record; a shared list of option numbers is not a valid score check.

How to Use Older Practice Papers

A short recalled set can test topic knowledge without being a complete paper. Record its actual question count and apply its own stated scoring convention when reviewing the exercise. For latest-format timing, create a separate 36-question block and stop review at 42 minutes.

The question-paper page labels the available compilations by their contents. The preparation guide shows how to distinguish knowledge errors from case-reading and section-timing errors.

1. 2026 Paper Structure
2. Five Locked Groups

1. Worked Score: 120 Correct, 40 Wrong
2. Subjects and Candidate Answer Keys